The present invention relates to recreational and exercising devices and, more particularly to a device that can be straddled and ridden for recreation and exercise.
Recreational devices upon which a rider can sit or straddle to bounce up and down for pleasure generally are of the hobby-horse type having a coil or cantilever spring-mounted chair or a replica of a horse or other animal. Typically, the rider can only bounce up and down in one spot and horizontal travel with the device is not effectively accomplished. In the prior art, a typical example of such a device is the hobby horse and support disclosed by A. M. Little et al in U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,530. However, the prior art in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,182 to K. P. O'Brien also discloses that it is known to provide a ridable upright annular resilient recreation device which is capable of horizontal travel. This prior art device is ridden by a rider sitting on a seat portion with his legs astraddle the annular body member and by grasping a handle member and exerting repeating jumping motions against a pair of foot supports, causes the device to bounce across the riding surface. Unlike the present invention which has an efficient solid annular spring body member, the prior art K. P. O'Brien device has a hollow body which may be inflated with air or filled with a suitable resilient material such as an elastomeric foam. That prior art device thus is a visco-pneumatic structure having the inherent damping forces associated with such constructions. Because the solid resilient annular spring of the present invention is not subject to visco-pneumatic damping forces the recovery energy in its bounce response is significantly higher than in prior inflatable constructions. It is seen, therefore, that the spring rate of a pneumatic tube like structure is at least one order of magnitude lower than the solid annular spring member of the present invention and thus would only be a candidate for relatively young children weighing about 50 pounds or less.